


like no one knows (you're so criminal)

by CycloneRachel



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Friendship, Gen, Hugs, One Shot, Season/Series 05 Spoilers, Supergirl (TV 2015) Season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22514341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CycloneRachel/pseuds/CycloneRachel
Summary: after talking with Winn for the first time since he came back, Brainy is still worried.But Winn is still there to help, and maybe that's enough.
Relationships: Querl Dox & Winn Schott Jr.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	like no one knows (you're so criminal)

“Alright.” Winn says, after Brainy’s completed what (according to him, even though both of them know it’s a lie) J’onn told him to do.

He sits Brainy down, and then sits down in a chair beside him. “So… you know my story- the Cliffnotes version of it, at least. It’s probably what you expected, or predicted for me. You sent me into the future, Mon-El and Imra helped me get acclimated to the 31st century, it was of course as mind-blowing as I’d imagined, I got to work trying to find a cure for the AI plague and a way to stop Brainiac, I worked with the Legionnaires enough that they started to become like another family to me, even though I was one of a few who didn’t have natural-born powers and so felt like even more of an outsider than I had already. But of course nobody would replace the Super-friends. Anyway, things went on, we continued to fight evil… you know how it is. And now 5 years after I first arrived, I’ve fallen in real love, gotten married, seen my daughter being born, have seen her starting to grow up… and then the time cops came, and it felt like my future was over.”

“Hmm.” Brainy says. “It has only been one year, seven months, and nine days in this time.”

Winn stares.

“Only that long?”

“Indeed.” He answers. “Though… I have been aware of every millisecond that passes, as I’m sure you figured. But even knowing that, it has felt much longer.”

Winn nods, gesturing for him to continue.

“That’s just where I was going, with that.” He says. “Tell me your story, how you ended up here.”

Brainy does just that, and Winn listens intently as he goes on.

He tells him everything- from Kara and Alex letting him adjust on his own while they continued with their jobs, to his and Alex’s unsuccessful partnership during the first few months he was in the twenty-first century without the rest of the Legion, to being harassed by a pizza shop owner he believed he was friends with, to seeing Supergirl being poisoned by Kryptonite and lying before him in a coma once again, to not being able to save her and only having the means to do so after boxing away all of his emotions, to seeing Supergirl leave the DEO and being left with only Alex to trust as Colonel Haley took over, to seeing Alex lose her memories of Kara’s true identity, to doing whatever he could to help but never once feeling like it was enough, to losing his ring and getting it back, his miscommunications and mixed signals while interacting with Nia, to Lockwood additionally taking over the DEO and his having to work for a man who hated his very existence, to being rebooted, and then everything in the past few months with Lena turning against everyone, and his losing control of his emotions again before being mind-controlled, then briefly becoming uninhibited before the Crisis happened, and in most recent news, his doppelgangers appearing on this new Earth and his fully removing his inhibitors to become who he was truly supposed to be- even if that person was also supposed to work with Lex Luthor to save the world and all of those whom he loved from the threat of Leviathan. All the pain, all the fear, even all the good things that had happened, and by the end, he feels that his face is wet with tears.

He also feels Winn holding his hands, and then handing him a tissue, which he accepts numbly, before trying to wipe the tears away from his face.

“I- I don’t know what to say.” Winn says, gently squeezing one of Brainy’s hands with both of his own. “Wow. I’m… I probably should’ve told you more of the details on my end.”

“You do not need to.” Brainy answers. “Not unless you are ready to do so.”

“Well, you were ready.” Winn tells him. “Weren’t you?”

“I- I was.” Brainy says. “Thank you, for listening.”

“No problem, man.”

Winn laughs, although it sounds less like a real laugh and more like someone trying to write out their idea of what a laugh sounds like. It’s short, and maybe a little bit joyless, and Brainy worries how much the future has truly stolen his emotions from him- the ability to stay optimistic, to laugh, to love, the innocence of the cardigans and plaid shirts Brainy stole to imitate him, that have now been replaced by this blue and bronze Legion uniform he sees him wearing presently. Although, thinking of the family and friends he’s assuredly made in the thirty-first century, and those he knows he’s made in this one, he knows he shouldn’t have worried about that at all.

“You know, it’s really funny.”

“What is?”

“That, when we first met, the last thing I wanted was to listen to you.” Winn says. “I thought- I thought Mon-El had replaced me. That he lost his best friend- me, of course- and found someone else who was smart, and knew technology, and had a difficult family history if his title was any indication.”

“If it helps, I did not know I was a replacement for anyone when Mon-El and I met.” Brainy answers. “I only knew he was there to help me off of the dark path I was on beforehand, and that he believed in me, like he knew Supergirl would have.”

“And she did.” Winn says.

“Yes.” Brainy answers, distantly. “ _Before_ she knew I was working with Lex Luthor. Everything I ever did, for twenty-two years… I wasn’t truly myself. And since I have become who I was supposed to be… Brainiac, the original- as I’m sure you know- worked with Lex once, in the Pre-Crisis timeline. Who’s to say I can’t go down his path now?”

He leans forward, resting his hands on his knees, putting his head in his hands- not able to bear to look at Winn.

“What would the Legion think of me- _sprock_. What would _Supergirl_ think of me, if she knew whose legacy I was following?”

Winn lays a hand on his shoulder, and he barely looks up.

“Well, first of all, they’d think you were a hero, because Lex is a hero after the Crisis, and they don’t remember anything else.”

Brainy shakes his head.

“Be serious.”

“I was going to be. And I wanted to say… my father always told me I was just like him. That I was his legacy. And… I don’t know your whole life story, but you must feel the same way, right? With your own family, and becoming cold, just like all of them. But I realized that I don’t have to be his legacy. I’m not the bad guy, and neither are you. We’re just… ourselves. That’s all we have to be.”

Brainy stares at Winn, face still streaked with tears, but now he’s smiling.

“And besides, if there’s anyone smart enough to keep a hold on who he really is, and have a plan to stay ahead of Lex Luthor of all people, I trust you enough to know that you’re exactly that person.” Winn says. “I still think you’re pretty great, after all.”

“Oh?” Brainy asks, after they both stand up, and Winn gives him a hug. They’re still holding hands, as he’s giving Winn a wry expression, and Winn looks vaguely confused. “I’m not just a… what did you call me. Glorified Windows Vista?”

“Aw, come on, I didn’t call you that to your _face_ …”

“You still thought it. And you wrote it down.”

“You read my journal? Dude.”

“I did have access to it. I thought you meant for me to read it. That it would help me.”

“That was definitely _not_ my intention-“

Winn hadn’t entirely missed arguing with Brainy. There were definitely times when it was seriously infuriating. But he had missed Brainy himself, and knew that whatever was going to happen going forward with him, and Lex, and Leviathan… Brainy had it handled.

It would be okay, and as much as Winn had already attempted to do in his visit from the future, he figured that helping Brainy would be even more important than stopping his own evil doppelganger.

(Okay, almost as important. He still wanted to make sure the time cops weren’t going to come after him, and take him away from his family. But this came really close.)

**Author's Note:**

> oh man. so how good was 5x11? Specifically that last scene with Winn and Brainy?
> 
> (I know, there was a Controversial decision re: next episode and its trailer. But there's some really interesting stuff in there given the official description, and I can't wait to see where it goes. So here's an emotional Winndox fic in the meantime! I feel like there might be a few of these, we'll see)


End file.
